Wine Concept

A wine with a contemporary style, having an elegant and intense profile. The wines show the character of the selected vineyard parcels on the Estate.

Agriculture

A dry winter followed by above average temperatures in spring and summer, gave rise to an early start to the harvest. Although temperatures continued to be high, there was no extreme heat during the vintage, and the dry conditions were excellent for fruit quality, producing wines with intense, persistent, aromatic fruit.

SOIL TYPE
Clay loam structure, granite/schist origin.

AVERAGE AGE OF VINES
10 years

Grape Varieties

Touriga Nacional, Syrah

Vinification / Maturation

Varieties harvested and vinified separately, destemmed/crushed, stainless steel temperature controlled fermentation (22-25ºC), pressed, controlled malolactic fermentation in tank.

Part of the blend was aged in tank, the other part in French oak for a period of 6 months. After that 6 month bottle maturation before market release.

More Information

In the 18th century, João de Aboim, a descendent of Egas Moniz and an important figure in the time of King Afonso III, created, from the different lands given by the Monsaraz and Portel municipalities, Defesa do Esporão one of the oldest estates of this type in Southern Portugal.

Defesas were large demarcated estates that were defended against grazing cattle from other areas and directly linked to the founding of Portugal during the Christian reconquest of the south. Examples of agro-forestry and pastoralist systems, defesas had a variety of uses. Deriving from the Mediterranean forest, at the time of the founders, the defesas reclaimed land from forests for the purpose of pasture.

Defesa do Esporão was one of the key examples of this type of estate linked to the founding of Portugal. Its boundaries, which were established in the late-13th century by a charter kept at Torre do Tombo national archive, have remained unchangend until today.

For centuries, the estate has employed agro-forestry and pastoralist methods based on the preservation of biodiversity and a multifunctional system that Esporão considers best practice to protect our ecosystem.

Wine Makers

David Baverstock and Luís Patrão

Colour

Clear, intense ruby

Aroma

Expressive, suggesting floral orange blossom and light coffee notes. Ripe, mature plum and prune fruits with some blueberry notes from the Touriga Nacional.

Palate

Very fresh with a seductive texture, sustained by dense tannins, leading to a long finish. Soft, rich and full bodied, well balanced with freshness and acidity to finish.

Sizes

750 ml

Alcohol/Volume

14.5 %

Total Acidity

6.8 g/l

pH

3.58

Reducing Sugar / Baumé

2.6 g/l